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This is a guest post written and photographed by the fabulous Megan O’Brien.
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| Vatos Tacos in Itaewon |
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| Vatos Tacos in Itaewon |
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| Vatos Tacos in Itaewon |
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| Vatos Tacos in Itaewon |
It is a fact that Korean food is up and coming on the world food scene. It is also a well known that tacos have been making a triumphant comeback for a couple years now. In the U.S., food trucks have been popping up in cities offering a combination of the two in the form of Korean tacos. The simple presentation of tacos provides an opportunity to be creative and artistic with ingredients and the distinct flavors of Korean BBQ is the perfect filling.
Recently in Seoul, two guys from California and Texas, respectively, have been able to successfully offer Korean tacos in a casual, sit-down restaurant format. With the hip name, Vatos Urban Tacos, you get the impression that the guys know a thing or two about what people in Seoul are looking for in a taco and have given taco enthusiasts in Seoul an opportunity to try well crafted food in a nice yet accessible setting.
Presently, there are 5 styles of tacos on their menu. They offer the tried and true carne asada as well as very impressive carnitas. For Korean tacos they have samgyeopsal and galbi-two Korean BBQ favorites and they have recently added fish tacos to their menu. I think that the carnitas, which is phenomenal, really stood out. The galbi taco, also delicious, was a perfect match with the cilantro, chilies and cabbage filling. The flavor of the fish tacos were on par with the famous street tacos you can find down in Baja.
Along with tacos, the menu also offers excellent appetizers. The most unique are Kimchi Carnitas Fries and Kimchi Quesadillas- a great option for vegetarians. They also have made a great tortilla soup, which is the ultimate comfort food for a homesick Californian like myself.
Vatos offers a highly creative and exciting drink menu. In addition to having local and craft beers, they have a mean Bloody Mary. Their ultimate drink for those of us in South Korea is the Makgeollita. A drink that combines the popular Korean beverage, makgeolli with the classic margarita. The Makgeollita is offered in different fruit flavors; mango and strawberry being my favorite.
In addition to the great food and a cool setting, I have been really impressed by the two gentlemen that run the place. Having been there a handful of times now I have had the opportunity to chat with the guys a bit. They definitely know what goes into making a good taco and they are enthusiastic to supply high-quality food to their patrons.
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| Vatos Tacos in Itaewon |
Address : Itaewon-dong 66-8 2F, Seoul, South Korea 140-200 ·
Phone :02-797-8226
Website : http://www.vatoskorea.com
Vatos Tacos is located on the same street as Wolfhound and JR’s, just farther down the hill. Behind where Dillinger’s and Outback would be. Across from the Family Mart.
About the Author
I ate there a few weeks ago and I was impressed by how good it was. I’m a huge fan of the Carne Asada and Fish Tacos. The Kimchi fries were unusual and surprisingly tasty, definitely worth trying once. It had a nice, comfortable, and chill atmosphere which brought up memories of the trendy Tapas/Fusion restaurants in San Francisco. I really enjoyed the fact that I didn’t have to strain my vocal courts to have a decent conversation with the members in my party. I wouldn’t recommend it for a business dinner since seating is not set up to award much privacy. I highly recommend it as a date place or a group dinner date of 6 or less. Bigger parties can be accommodated but I would recommend calling ahead to avoid having to wait to be seated.
[...] I headed out at 3:45 pm to meet a few friends for dinner in Itaewon. I took the for 20 minutes to Uijeongbu station then from there, took a long subway ride to Itaewon. Total commute time was about an hour and a half. I ended up being 30 minutes early but so was Keith, so we hung out at a cafe eating cookies for about half an hour. Unfortunately, everyone that was invited for the dinner was unable to come so it was just Keith and I. We went to Vatos, an up-and-coming Korean/Taco joint that opened up not too long ago. Check out some of the food here: http://www.seouleats.com/2011/12/restaurant-write-up-vatos-urban-tacos-in-itaewon/ Mmmm. [...]
[...] cold with a plastic tent. I think in the summer time, this will be the place to drink margaritas! Vatos Urban Tacos opened just last November by a Californian and a Texan who have implanted themselves in Seoul. [...]
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Having visited Vatos after reading this review, I was massively disappointed! The food is exceptional, I’ll give them that, but the service is disorganized and not the friendliest. I reserved a big table and way more friends came than I expected. I asked the staff if they could handle it and said that if not, I could go elsewhere. They assured me that it would be fine. When we were finally seated, they repeatedly berated my guests for being too big a group for the reservation. This was MY fault and I didn’t appreciate them giving my guests flack. The staff also got very confused about getting orders to the right people. We were eventually given two tables and when some friends left, we went back to one. When we left, I asked for the bill and a friend pointed out to the waiter that it appeared that not everything was on it. He said it was all there and we paid and left. Later that night(about 12:30!) I got a message from the manager saying that I had not paid one of the bills. The staff had gotten confused and not realised that there were two bills. The second bill was for 122000 KRW.
So I was now being obliged to pay an extra bill, I texted back and told the manager that I found this unacceptable and he agreed that it was their mistake and that I should not be responsible for paying for their mistakes just because my name was on the reservation. I agreed to pay half of the amount but I will not get to remember the occasion(my husband’s graduation and birthday) very happily thanks to this experience.
At the end of the day, they are a new restaurant and mix ups happen, but I wouldn’t recommend Vatos based on their service.
i was hungry for some mexican food so i found this place online. well the place looked nice and some what clean. the server was all foreigners so the service was good even tho i had to wait 45min to get a seat. now lets talk about the food. i had beef taco and kimchi fries. it was by far the worst mexican food i have ever had in my life. i have tasted some bad mexican food before but this place sits on the same category. this place is for those people who never had a real mexican food to compare it with. if i compare this place with taco bell i would say taco bell 8/10 and this place 2/10. we all know taco bell is not real mexican food so there you go…
do not eat there if your looking for some real mexican food. those people who said this place is wonderful well i bet its those foreigners who work there. its bad people that is why i am spending my time to leave a comment.